Older and, alas, fatter

May 09, 2004|By Emilie Le Beau.

If your belly blocks your waist--and a glimpse at your toes--then you're not alone. Researchers in a size survey had to look under the bellies of 19 percent of men to find their waists. Another 19 percent were listed as "portly."

The survey, SizeUSA, was sponsored by clothing and textile companies hoping to get a good measure of American sizes. Researchers used light-pulsing, 3-D technology to measure more than 3,600 men in 13 cities. Volunteers stripped to their skivvies and stepped into a black box that scanned 200 measurements in less than one minute.

White men ages 36-65 are leading the pack of the portly with average chest-waist-hip measurements of 44.1--38.7--42.4 inches.

The smallest chest measurement belonged to white men 18-35, with an average of 41.7 inches. White and black men 18-35 tied for the smallest waist measurement, with 35.6 inches. And Hispanic men ages 18-35 claimed the smallest hip measurement, with 41.1 inches.

The men in the survey had an average weight of 185 pounds and average height of 5 foot 9. A man with these measurements would most likely have a body mass index of 27, which is considered overweight.

Fifteen percent of the men surveyed weighed more than 225 pounds, and 45 men weighed more than 300 pounds. Lovejoy said lighter-weight men were less common, and only 3.5 percent of the men weighed 125 pounds or less.

"I was surprised with how many large people there are," Lovejoy said. "We've seen articles on that, but when you actually see the numbers, it's kind of a surprise."

The numbers are the most accurate body measurements ever taken in a large study. Past measurements were taken by hand and subject to human error, Lovejoy said.

SizeUSA didn't stop in Chicago, but Lovejoy said size can't be connected to geographic locations.

"There are short, fat, skinny and tall people all over," he said. "The location doesn't mean anything."